NDA, Bengal’s Communists don’t work for poor: Rahul Gandhi

Domkal (West Bengal), May 2 (IANS) Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi Saturday again attacked the state’s Left Front government and also hit out at the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), accusing both of neglecting the poor and the backward. “The NDA wants to divide the country into two - one comprising a chosen few and another with the common people and backward sections,” he said here, referring to the ‘India Shining’ campaign of the NDA during the 2004 elections.

He was on his second campaign visit to the state Saturday and was speaking at a rally in Domkal in Murshidabad district, 250 km from Kolkata and part of the Murshidabad Lok Sabha constituency.

“We (the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance) think if we want our country to prosper, we all have to move together,” he said.

Murshidabad goes to polls in the next phase of Lok Sabha elections May 7. The Congress has put up Mannan Hossain as its candidate.

“The NDA government forgot farmers, but we gave Rs.700 billion to farmers (in loan waivers). We have opened the bank doors for farmers who were unable to take loans as they were already indebted to banks. But now they can take loans,” Rahul Gandhi said.

He said whatever the UPA had done was for the poor and backward.

He attacked the state’s Communist government for not being able to implement the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and failing to work for the development of the poor.

“I am surprised. The Communist government appreciated the scheme in Delhi, but back here, they failed to implement it,” Rahul Gandhi said.

He said the state received hundreds of thousands of job cards for the poor, but only four people had got job opportunities so far. He also said under the scheme there is a guarantee of 100 days of work, but in West Bengal they get only 17 days of work.

“Usually a Communist government works for the betterment of the poor. But what type of a Communist government is this, which does not work for the poor?” he questioned. He said: “They have forgotten the poor, backward and the minorities of the state.”

He asserted: “Whatever we do, we should not forget the common people and we all should grow collectively and no one should be left behind.”

Three-phased Lok Sabha polls are being held in West Bengal, of which two are still left.